Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Verbena hybrida cultivar Bodcomburgeye.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Verbena plant, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Bodcomburgeyexe2x80x99.
The new Verbena is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Lompoc, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Verbena cultivars with a dense and bushy growth habit, numerous flowers, and interesting flower and foliage colors.
The new Verbena originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in April, 1989 of a proprietary Verbena hybrida selection identified as 9V161, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Verbena hybrida selection identified as 9V174, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Bodcomburgeye was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny from this cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Lompoc, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Lompoc, Calif. has shown that the unique features of this new Verbena are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Bodcomburgeyexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Bodcomburgeyexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, upright and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and bushy growth habit.
3. Dark green-colored leaves.
4. Very dark purple and white bi-colored flowers with flowers held above and beyond the foliage.
Plants of the new Verbena differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in plant habit and flower coloration.
Plants of the new Verbena differ primarily from plants of the cultivar Bodcomblu, disclosed in a U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/684,568, in flower coloration.
Plants of the new Verbena can be compared to plants of the cultivar Quartz Burgundy, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Lompoc, Calif., plants of the new Verbena differed primarily from plants of the cultivar Quartz Burgundy in plant form and flower size as plants of the cultivar Quartz Burgundy are more mounded and have larger flowers than plants of the new Verbena.
Plants of the new Verbena can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Obsession Burgundy Eye, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Lompoc, Calif., plants of the new Verbena differed primarily from plants of the cultivar Obession Burgundy Eye in plant form as plants of the cultivar Obsession Burgundy Eye are more mounded than plants of the new Verbena.